Fresh controversy for privately-managed ferry system already accused of lax safety standards
Vancouver (24 October 2006) - B.C. Ferries has announced that it is lowering qualification standards for officers seeking to become captains.
The provincially-owned but privately-managed ferry service made the change in June, just three months after the Queen of the North passenger vessel sank in the Queen Charlotte Islands, taking two lives.
The company says the move is required to meet a looming shortage of captains and denies that it poses any threat to safety.
But Darin Bowland disagrees. The former safety director for B.C. Ferries who quit his job after the sinking, says this is the latest in a string of bad decisions made by the company.
"To start lowering standards is a reactive tactic that is going to get them in a whole lot of trouble," Bowland argued this week.
He said the company, which has been involved in one controversy after another since its operations were privatized by the Liberal government of Premier Gordon Campbell, should have seen the shortage coming and made preparations for it.
Yet nothing was done by company president David Hahn and the private board of directors to adequately prepare for the situation, Bowland said.
Second controversy in a week
It was the second controversy in a week involving B.C. Ferries and Bowland.
Last week Bowland released a damning affidavit prepared for the Supreme Court of British Columbia, citing a host of safety deficiencies within the ferry system prior to the March 22 Queen of the North sinking. (Because the dispute was settled out of court, the affadavit was not formally filed with the court.)
He made the document public after settling a wrongful dismissal suit with the ferry corporation. The original settlement between Bowland and the company called for the document to be kept secret.
Bowland released it publicly after Hahn alleged in public statements that the settling of the lawsuit out of court proved there was no basis to the allegations made by Bowland in the days following the tragedy.
"We conducted a thorough internal investigation with an outside law firm and I am advised by the firm that there is no merit to any of the contents in the affidavit," Mr. Hahn said.
Bowland says Hahn's remarks are so out of line with the facts that he decided to release the affidavit. Previously, he had agreed not to make it public.
Bowland makes a series of damning allegations in the document. They include the following:
- After becoming safety director Bowland clashed repeatedly with senior B.C. Ferries managers over matters he felt presented safety concerns.
- While in his job, he created a document outlining more than 800 safety deficiencies that were not adequately addressed by the company.
- He was reprimanded after circulating the list to senior managers.
- Specifically, he warned that "lack of proper bridge resource management could lead to catastrophic results."
- After the Queen of the North sank, Bowland was pressured to downplay the situation by focusing a company inquiry, not on systemic safety problems at issue, but on "opportunities" for B.C. Ferries to improve.
- He was also pressured to suspend the inquiry by asking repeatedly if managers wanted it stopped and being met with silence. The silence "spoke volumes" and "clearly indicated that it had been decided that I should end the inquiry," he wrote.
- When he resigned his position after deciding he could not continue, B.C. Ferries told the media Bowland left for personal reasons. In fact, he had sent an e-mail to the company saying the opposite. "Bottom line -- the company scares me and I am not willing to carry on within the current culture and organization," he wrote.
The B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers' Union (BCFMWU), which represents West Coast ferry workers has called for a full safety audit of B.C. Ferries. The BCFMWU is affiliated with the British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU), a component of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE).
More information:
• Affidavit prepared by Capt. Darin Bowland concerning B.C. Ferries - pdf
• British Columbia ferry workers' union calls for full safety audit
• B.C. Ferries failed to provide adequate training of ferry crew
• Former safety director sues B.C. Ferries for ignoring warnings
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